Review Of Mr. Keating's 'O Captain, My Captain'

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner has remained a fairly controversial and intriguing novel when it comes to analysis. It’s “stream of consciousness” style, extensive amount of narrators, and fragmented format leave much available for differing analysis. With the overwhelming amount of narrators comes several pivotal characters. In turn, investigating characterization becomes a popular form of analysis for this work. Many critiques develop connections to societal, religious, and biographical references while explicating the importance of setting and location to the plot; however, character analysis proved to have the greatest support and draw more deep, thought out analysis. Specifically, the sexual interpretation of the sometimes seemingly innocent Dewey Dell, and the self transformation of Cash are two viewpoints that have gained attention for this novel.

Every story has a moral. In certain Native American legends, a character called Coyote serves to entertain as well as educate. In Ricochet River, author Robin Cody creates a character to serve as his Coyote, a Native American boy by the name of Jesse. Cody uses the characterization of Jesse to entertain his readers as well as teach them about the hardships faced by a Native boy trying to fit into a primarily white environment. Even Jesse’s own mother has a conflicting view of his cultural identity, which she expresses through diction. Jesse’s life, and death, serve as an educational and entertaining story of the dangers of trying too hard to forget one's culture in order to fit into a different one.

The dramatic coming-of-age film Dead Poet’s Society follows a group of young as they attend Welton Academy, an ultra conservative all-boys preparatory school, in 1959. Enthralled and inspired by the unconventional musings of their new English teacher, Mr. Keating, each of the students embark on a powerful journey of self-discovery, reflecting core transcendental themes of civil disobedience, non-conformity, and self-reliance. Heeding the mantra of their eccentric professor, the film’s characters learn they must rebel against societal conformity and willingly accept the consequences to truly seize the day and make life extraordinary.

The book I chose to read for my book review was “ Killing Mr.Griffin”. It is about 5 high school students who hate their english teacher Mr. Griffin and come up with a plan to kidnap him. Their main purpose is to just torture and make Mr. Griffin think he is going to die. The plan takes a tragic turn and results in Mr. Griffin's death. The plan simply falls apart in a domino effect of terror and grief. In the very beginning, the book opens up with a clear hatred of the english teacher Mr.Griffin. Talking about how he assigns to much homework and his tests are way to difficult. Often times the main characters would get straight F’s on his assignments. Except for Susan who is the only one to pass his class. This foreshadows the plan

Then, Miss Narwin asks the school district if they could allow her to attend a two-week workshop to make Miss Narwin’s teaching skills a lot better. This is because she feels that students these days have no passion on literature. Her funds got rejected and were given to the Marching band instead. In the other hand, Philip asks Coach Jamison if there is any way for him to make it into the track team and his response was to get extra credit from Miss Narwin, but he decides not to and later he never puts effort to Miss Narwin’s class or his grades.

David Sedaris’s short story entitled “Jesus Shaves” is a very interesting tale of a man and his fellow classmates in a French class trying to learn about important holidays. Sedaris uses multiple literary devices in his short story that drives the point towards learning about what Easter really stands for. In the early part of the story the teacher of the French class states, “And what does one do Easter? Would anyone like to tell us?” (435). This quickly deboogles the minds of the students in the classroom and unravels their thoughts to grasp for an answer. The author uses plot devices and a common setting, along with inputs from other characters, to create a story both argumentative and fulfilling, while oftenly restating the theme that faith is viewed differently by many.

Different feelings and emotion are not known in the community within the people.The Giver and Jonas are the only true people that know how to feel the different emotions. Every night at the conclusion of their evening meal one of the rituals is the evening telling of feelings. In the very first Chapter Jonas talks about how it was almost December and Jonas was beginning to be frightened. But then thought that was the wrong word to use. Frightened ment that deep, sickening feeling of something terrible about to happen. Now that it was almost upon Jonas he wasn't frightened but he was eager he decided. He was eager and excited. But then their was a little shudder of nervousness when he thought about what might happen at the ceremony of twelve. Apprehensive, Jonas decided. That's what I feel like. (chapter 1)

William Faulkner’s Acceptance Speech, performed at the Noble Banquet at the City Hall in Stockholm, Sweden, December 10, 1950. “He is immortal, not because he alone… has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul… the writer’s, duty is to write about these things.” In his speech, Faulkner summarizes the duty of a poet, a writer, of man, not just entertain readers, but remind them of the hardships humanity has endured, and display this to a sense of pride, compassion, and glory. Thus brings us to Jeannette Walls’ and Annie Dillard’s novel The Glass Castle & An American Childhood. Both written work describes a childhood full of wax and wane that presents a variety of emotions throughout the reading but one unlike the other are very distinct

When reading the poems “The road not taken” by Robert Frost,and “O’Captain,My Captain” by Walt Whitman it is evident that both have a great deal of distinctions, as well as commonalities. The first poem,“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost is a symbolic story of a young man discovering his path in life.“The Road Not Taken” begins during Autumn, in the woods. The speaker,a young man, takes a stroll along a road. Eventually,he reaches a point in which the road diverges into two. Knowing that “way leads onto way”, it is not likely he will come back. The man must make an important decision regarding which path he will pursue. The speaker, on an impulse, decides to be daring, and take the road less traveled upon. He possibly chose the less taken road, frightened by the idea of missing out on something significant. However, the author predicts that he took the wrong path. In his opinion, he will regret his choices further down the road. He says he shall be telling his story with a sigh once the time is right. The path would negatively impact his future.

Dominic was observed during the morning in his third grade class. At the start of the observation, a selected group of students, including Dominic, were instructed to sit on a rug for an activity. Dominic sat on the rug for a couple of seconds before he got up and went to his desk to look for an item. Dominic could not find the item at his desk, so he headed to a shelf and grabbed a paper. He then headed back to the rug and took a seat. During the activity, Dominic appeared to listen to the teaching assistant as she reviewed letter sounds. Furthermore, Dominic had his fingers in his mouth, biting his nails during the activity. After the activity, Dominic headed back to his desk as instructed by the teaching assistant. The class was instructed to start a “spelling sort” activity. During the activity, he cut out and glued printed words from a worksheet onto his notebook. Occasionally, Dominic talked with a peer seated next to him. Once Dominic finished the activity, he placed his notebook into his desk. He briefly looked around the room before his general education teacher, Mrs. Hippchen, asked “OK Dominic, what do we do now?” He then pulled out a book from his desk and began reading.

The book Hatchet was full of adventure around every corner. There is not a moment in the entire book where you’re not held in suspense or on the edge of your seat wonder what might happen to Brian, the main character. It is a book about both a self conflict, and a battle against nature for the survival of the fittest.

Throughout the book The Overachievers:The Secret Lives of Driven Kids, Alexandra Robbins develops the theme of competition between the students at Whitman High School and the students she individually observed. The Journalist Alexandra Robbins returns to Whitman, where she attended her high school years to follow a few of Whitman’s upperclassmen and journal about their experiences in high school towards achieving admissions to top elite colleges and universities.The students she follows around are Taylor, Julie, Audrey, AP Frank, Sam, Pete, Ryland, Stealth Overachiever student, and C.J., which were Juniors and Seniors at Whitman. As she observes these nine students at Whitman High School, she discovers that High School was an indirect battleground between students who competed against each other for best grades, top scores in standardized tests, best athletic achievements, and their admissions towards post

“...For I have lived in the city of the damned, and I know what horror men permitted to be brought upon them.” (103) In the novel “Anthem” by Ayn Rand, Equality 7-2521 has been raised in a totalitarian world. Everyone thinks of the whole, never themselves. It is forbidden to do otherwise. Equality has always struggled with fitting in. He’s always been different. He’s tried to go along with it all. Yet in the end he winds up leaving, and discovering a new way to live, the old ways. How people lived in the “unmentionable” times. He tells how the leaders are wrong, and how people shouldn’t have to live the way they do. That it is wrong. That the word “we” is the route of all evil.

Our Year 10 Drama class performed a satirical performance called the 10 best worst things about high school. The play was written by M.G. Davidson. This performance is about the different things high school students experience, for example friends, school clubs, field trips, cinema, gradation, prom and sports. Therefore, we have Narrator 1 and Narrator 2 that take us to those experience. Narrator 2 and Narrator 1 have a debate about why high school is the best or the worst. Narrator 2 is boring, shy and sometimes he can be angry when he doesn’t get his way. Narrator 1, She just loves high school She is smart, joyful spirt and always acts euphoric. The characters in the play suggest that high school is okay to their normal life, for example

When first writing in my journal I struggled with how deep to go with my discussion questions and what I should be asking my classmates. I feel that I have struggled with this because I lack confidence on what I am trying to prove or say in my writing. When reading in the past I have never pushed myself to question the author’s purpose or ask questions that invoke much thought. Up to this point in the year writing in my journal as well as annotating in the text, has helped my reading and writing immensely. My journal this year mostly contains quotes from texts and points from in class discussions that I felt were useful to understanding the novel and its purpose. I do not journal as much as